


Love is free (why don't you give it away)

by Vendel



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Dancing in the Foundry, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Standing up to Laurel, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-08
Updated: 2014-12-08
Packaged: 2018-02-28 16:44:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2739686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vendel/pseuds/Vendel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oliver and Felicity are dancing in the Foundry. Well, Felicity is dancing, Oliver is more observing.<br/>Laurel crashes the party. Felicity gives her a piece of her mind, without knowing Oliver can hear it all</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love is free (why don't you give it away)

**Author's Note:**

> Go easy on me. First of all, english is not my 1st language, and second of all, I have NEVER written anything before.  
> I don't know where this came from, I've just had this on my mind all day, and i felt like showing it to someone.  
> I wanted someone to stand up to Laurel, because she really annoys me sometimes. And... I'm also a hardcore Oliciter, so she just needs to go away. Like. Now.
> 
> This is sometime after the beginning of the third season.  
> Thea is still in Starling (she never left and she is in on the secret)  
> Oliver never lost QC, so he is still CEO. *  
> They beat the bad guys (Slade) *  
> Digg and Lyla had the baby*  
> Oliver and Felicity are together and everyone is happy  
> (I am a sucker for fluff is that wasn't obvious.)  
> *None of this is actually relevant for the story, I just wanted you to know where my mind was at
> 
> I don't hate Laurel, but just as I am a sucker for fluff, I am also a sucker for people telling off others. In this case, Felicity having had enough of Laurel's c**p.
> 
> Also, i have no claim on this universe or these characters. I'm just having fun

The first thing Oliver heard as he walked into the Foundry was the bass pumping. This wasn’t unusual, the Foundry being under a club and all, but the music didn’t come from the club above him. It came from one of Felicity’s beloved computers. 

You wanna cast a stone  
We’re so ready to fight  
Got the nerve to ask, how did I sleep?  
I heard you all through the night

As Oliver heard the lyrics to the song playing, Felicity came into view. She wasn’t walking around in her heels or her panda flats like she usually did. She was barefoot. And she wasn’t really walking either, it was more like dancing. Or at least it was an attempt at dancing.

She stilled, and began to really dance. And she could actually dance. Despite having know Felicity for more than 2 years now, and having been in a relationship with her for a couple of months, Oliver had never actually seen her dance. 

She looked… Graceful. Which wasn’t usually a word Oliver associated with Felicity, but in this case, that is what she was. She looked peaceful and happy, and that made Oliver smile. 

The song ended and a new one began. Oliver didn’t know this one. He hadn’t known the other one either. You would believe he would know more songs with the Foundry being under a club. That he owned. Or at least he had once. That was Thea’s responsibility now, and she was doing a much better job than he had. 

I take two steps forward, and don’t look back  
I bared my soul just to cover my tracks  
So I’m like a dirty cop with blood on my hands  
And I know it won’t be long

Felicity clearly knew the words to the song, as she sang just loudly enough for him to hear her over the loud music. 

Oliver stood there for a little while longer. Some part of him wanted to stand there and watch her all day. And then another part wanted to go dance with her. That part he didn’t understand, because he hates dancing. 

He usually stood by the edge of the dance floor, back when Tommy was alive and before the Island. Even then, when he had actually enjoyed partying, you would need to get him extremely drunk to even get him near the dance floor, and it was nearly impossible to get him to dance.

But Felicity had always been the exception, so why not now?  
She always brought out new sides of him. Sides he had either hidden away, never had before, or sides he had forgotten existed.  
She was the exception. And he loved her. Or she was the exception because he loved her. He wasn’t sure, and it didn’t really matter. He had finally told her how he felt and he had never felt lighter. 

He had spent so long denying his feelings. And then that one night at the Mansion, when he took her there to trick Slade, the words came out.  
I love you  
He hadn’t planned it, hell; he hadn’t even realized he felt it. 

From that moment, he couldn’t deny it anymore, but that didn’t stop him from trying to lock it away. To hide it. 

He heard all the reasons he had ever given her for them not being able to be together, and he continued the list.  
She would be in danger.  
He would eventually hurt her.  
His life was too dangerous.  
He was damaged. Broken.  
She deserved better.  
He could even hear every counter argument, but he wouldn’t listen. 

Then for 10 seconds she had broken through his walls. 10 short seconds, and it was too late. Before it had even been 4 seconds, he had kissed her, and then there was no turning back. 

For one he didn’t have the self-control he prided himself on when it came to her.  
Another thing was that it would hurt her if he pulled away and shut her out again.  
But in the end it all came down to this.  
He didn’t want to fight it anymore  
He wanted to be with her. So that is what happened.

So now here he was. Standing on the staircase leading into the Foundry, watching her dance. The woman he loved. The woman who loved him back. 

Suddenly she turned to him, as the chorus of the song began, and the guy sang:

Won’t you come a little bit closer to me  
Come a little bit closer

As she looked at him, she sang along and gestured for him to ‘come closer’. He smiled at her, and she beamed at him when he reached her.  
She continued her dancing and singing, and he stood there again admiring her. Only this time he wasn’t in the shadows. She always pulled him out of the shadows.

When the song ended, he smiled at her again

“What are you doing?” He asked with half a laugh in his voice

“The Foundry needs a little light. And some happiness. I thought some music would do the trick” She still beamed as she swayed to the rhythm of the new song.

When the song started playing for real, Oliver found himself swaying with her. Slowly it started to resemble a dance. 

Free, love is free, love is free  
Come on and give it away  
Why don’t you give it away?  
Free, love is free, love is free  
So try to give it away  
Why don’t you give it away?

Oliver smiled at the lyrics. Love was free, and once he had allowed himself to love her, there was nothing easier in the world.  
They kept dancing, and despite his hate for dance, Oliver couldn’t remember the last time he had been this happy. Laughed this much.

It had been two songs since he joined Felicity on the floor, when he saw Laurel on the stairs in the spot he had vacated just a short while before.  
He chose to ignore her. He didn’t want to deal with Laurel right now, and he didn’t want the fun to end. So he pretended like she wasn’t there.  
It didn’t take long for Felicity to notice her too.

“Are you aware of the fact that Laurel is here?” she leaned close to him as she whispered

“Yes,” he answered, also in a whisper, “but I was hoping she would leave if we ignore her”

“Isn’t that a little cruel?” 

“Possibly. But we are dancing. And having fun.” He said with a grin; as he leaned down to kiss her. 

When she deepened the kiss, Oliver took that as a sign of her approval. They would ignore Laurel.  
A new song started playing, and Felicity jumped up and down as she proclaimed that she loved this song.  
She turned up the volume and looked him straight in the eye as she began to sing along to the lyrics

If I know one thing, that's true  
It ain't what you say, it's what you do  
And you don't say much, yeah, that's true  
But I listen when you do

She kept looking straight at him, and Oliver soon understood that she associated these lyrics with him. With them. He smiled at her, and had to agree. He didn’t say much, but when he did Felicity was always there to listen and she was always supportive 

They resumed their dance, and both laughed when he spun her around and dipped her.  
The next verse came, and she once again looked at him very seriously. 

If there is one thing, that's true  
It's not what I say; it's what I do  
And I say too much, yeah, that's true  
So just listen to what I do

At the end she couldn’t keep the smile of off her lips, and shrugged when he laughed. She talked a lot, yes, but it could never be too much, not for Oliver.

Another song came and went, as they continued to dance and ignore Laurel. She hadn’t left though. She was stubborn like that.  
A new song started once again, and this one was more upbeat. Felicity moved away from him.  
When she turned to look at him, she was engrossed in the song. She sang along, and even did the heavy breathing there was at the end of the lines she sang

Subliminal, sex  
Drippin’ in, sweat  
I’m losing my, breath

He knew the fire he saw in her eyes was reflected in his own. Somehow the fun had turned into desire and lust only by the help of a few lines in a song.  
The next time the same lines came again, be grabbed her by the waist, and pulled her to him. She smiled widely at him, before he kissed her.

Oliver knew Laurel was still there, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.  
The only thing breaking their kiss was Laurels words.

“I thought you didn’t like to dance, Ollie”

“Is that what we were doing?” he answered; “because if so, then I need to revise my stance on dancing,” he continued sarcastically, without moves his eyes from Felicity. 

She was trying to hide her smile, but she didn’t succeed. She wasn’t blushing though, and that impressed him.

“Why are you here, Laurel?” Oliver asked politely finally looking at her.

“Actually, I am here because I wanted to speak with Felicity”

Oliver turned his gaze back to the blonde, and when she nodded, he told the two women he would be in the back. 

He did go to the back, but not far. He could still hear what was said in the main room of the Foundry.  
Felicity moved to turn of the music, as Laurel made her way to the blonde. 

“I will be honest with you,” Laurel began, “ I don’t particularly like you”

“Likewise”

There was a pause after Felicity’s answer that Oliver guessed was Laurel trying to get back on track.

“I don’t think you are good for Ollie.”

“Again; likewise” came Felicity’s cold answer.

Oliver knew there wasn’t any love lost between the two, so none of it surprised him.

“I believe he deserves better than you, and I don’t think that it will ever change, but I have to admit, seeing the two of you just now, he seems happy.” Laurel said, and held a quick pause. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him that happy, and that was before the Island. But it wasn’t the same though. It was a different kind of happy. It was ‘I just did something stupid with Tommy, but we didn’t get caught’ – happy. Or ‘I don’t have a hangover, even though I drank half a liquor store last night’ – happy. But here with you, he seemed genuinely happy.”

Felicity was quiet for a long time before she said

“Have you seen him smile? Since the Island, I mean”

“Of course”

“I mean his real smile. Not the CEO-smile, or the old playboy-smile, but his real smile when he is just Oliver. The smile that lights up the entire room.”

“Yes” came the insecure answer from Laurel

Even though Oliver couldn’t see them, he could almost imagine Felicity tilting her head to the side and look at Laurel like she wasn’t buying any of what she was trying to sell. Just like she had the first time he met her.

He couldn’t help but smile at the memory. And then he realized that Felicity was wrong; it wasn’t his ‘Oliver’ smile. It was his ‘Felicity’ smile. The smile that was only ever there when he thought of her, spoke about her or to her.  
So no, Laurel wouldn’t have seen that.

“No,” came the new answer from Laurel, (with a little help from Felicity’s head-tilt) “not until I saw the way he smiled at you just now”

“Well I think that is the closest thing there is to magic,” Felicity said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. “Oliver has changed recently. He has lightened up a bit; he smiles more and laughs more. Not nearly enough, in my opinion, but it’s a step in the right direction.” 

“I have come to terms with the fact, that he will always love you,” Felicity continued, “I was jealous at first, because you were you. You’re ‘Gorgeous Laurel’. You have history with him, something I will never have. I will never know ‘Ollie’, but I’m okay with that. I don’t need to know Ollie to know Oliver, because even though I didn’t know him before, I can see he has changed. And I know you can too, even if you haven’t always allowed yourself to.”

He could hear her start to move around. She paced, and he knew she was nervous. 

“I have come to terms with the fact, that he will always love you,” Felicity started again, “because you were his first love, and we never truly forget our first love. And I also believe that we never stop loving our first love, no matter how badly it ended.”

All this time Laurel had been silent, and he could hear Felicity was becoming more nervous.

“Like I have accepted that you have a special place in his heart, I would expect him to have the same understanding with me, because I know that I will always love my first love in some capacity and that he will always have a special place in my heart. I won’t insult you by saying I have been through the same as you, because I haven’t. My boyfriend didn’t leave with my sister on a boat that went down in the middle of the sea, but I lost my first love too, and he didn’t come back.”

Oliver didn’t know anything about this. She had never told him any of this, so is came as quite a shock. Not that he had any right to judge, since he was still the only person who really knew what had happened in those 5 years.

“My point is Laurel, I get it. And I have accepted it, and maybe you should too. Accept that he moved on. Be flattered to be the one who got him through hell, and accept the fact that he moved on.”

“I… I’m sorry. It’s just that when I found out about the two of you, I had started thinking that maybe Ollie and I were supposed to end up together. That he would come back to me, because I’m the one who knows him best. Understands him best”

“That might be true, Laurel, but you are talking about Ollie, not Oliver. You’re probably right, you know Ollie better than anyone else, but the problem is that he isn’t Ollie anymore. Now he is Oliver, and I am sorry to say that you don’t really know Oliver at all. I’m not sure anyone ever really will, but we need to let him get to the point where he feels like opening up to someone by himself. We can’t push him to get there faster; he has to get there on his own. Maybe he’ll open up to you or me. Or it might be Diggle, Thea or Roy. Even a therapist. I don’t know. The important thing is just that we don’t pressure him.”

“I don’t pressure him” Laurel said

“No, but you ask questions. You have to forget you curiosity. It won’t help him.”

Oliver didn’t know what he had expected out of this conversation, but this wasn’t it. He wasn’t complaining, because he actually thought it would have gone a lot worse, and with a lot more shouting (mostly from Laurel), but they kept it cool. Felicity was unbelievably calm. She didn’t ramble one single time. And it sounded like she managed to get through to the other woman.

He thought that this wasn’t the outcome Laurel had expected either. She didn’t know Felicity well, and probably thought she could just waltz in, put her in her place, and then be with Oliver. But you should never underestimate Felicity.

He was once again amazed by how well Felicity knew him. Even without him saying anything, she just knew it anyway. She truly was remarkable.

“I think I’ll go now. Tell Ollie goodbye from me.” He could hear Laurel turn and leave and then her decent up the stairs.

He heard Felicity take a deep and shaky breath, like she had been on edge the entire conversation. If she had been, she had hidden it well.  
Oliver couldn’t stay hidden anymore, and walked out of his hiding place to go put his arms around the tiny blonde. She immediately put her arms around his torso and sighed.

“You heard it all, didn’t you?” she asked and looked at him. “I should’ve guessed” She finished with a shake of her head and a smile.

“Have I told you how much I love you?” Oliver said while he smiled down at her. This amazing woman knew him. The real him. She saw through all of his masks, she always had. He had never been able to lie to her, even when he had tried.

“Once or twice” She said beaming up at him before she caught his lips; intent on finishing what Laurel had interrupted.

**Author's Note:**

> Songs:
> 
> Loud - Jessie J  
> Closer to me - The Fray  
> Give it away - The Fray  
> Love don't die - The Fray  
> Burnin' up - Jessie J
> 
> There is clearly a pattern here.... :) 
> 
> I would love if you would leave a comment to let me know how my first attempt at writing went <3


End file.
